All-LED lighting, better night vision

Never again will you pulled over for a defective tail lamp. Every bulb in the car is an LED that should last several lifetimes of the car. In total, the S-Class has almost 500 LEDs: up to 56 LEDs for each of the headlamps, up to 35 LEDs for each taillamp, four for the rear fog lamp, and about 300 for interior ambient lighting with seven color choices including blue (photo). In world markets, individual elements swivel and turn and can be masked to not shine at an oncoming car or the car in front of you. In the US, the headlamp as a unit can still swivel to follow the steering wheel. Going to LEDs cuts power consumption as well.

The lighting system teams up with Night View Assist Plus, the most current MB night vision system, which combines active (illuminated) and passive (heat detecting) infrared sensors. A black and white image appears in the cockpit as you drive. If sensors detect a human or animal on or near the road, the center of the instrument cluster pops up the night view display even if it wasn’t already on, and puts a red rectangle around any animal or human it sees. Then one of the headlamp units swivels, aims at the human, and strobes or flashes the headlamp three times so you see the pedestrian — and so the pedestrian recognizes the potential danger. It won’t flash an animal because their reaction is hard to predict, Mercedes says. With this combination, night vision rises from “nice to have if you’re checking every options box” to “seriously useful safety tool.” The downside remains: You’re paying $2,260 to protect somebody you probably don’t know.

Streaming music from the car, not your phone

When a car has an on-board telematics module with a cellular modem, why not use that to stream audio, rather than tether your phone? That’s how the S-Class will deliver online services including streaming audio. Everybody in the car gets a separate music or entertainment stream from a DVD player in the dash, a DVD changer above the center rear armrest, AM/FM/HD/satellite radio head unit, two USB jacks in the console with power to charge an iPad, leftover space on the 250GB navigation hard disk drive for ripped music files and Gracenote lookup, SD card slot, or streaming audio. The modem also provides WiFi that allows internet access for up to about 10 devices, other Mercedes in-dash apps, and 3D Google terrain maps to the navigation system.

Americans will be pleased to know we won’t be hobbled by the entry-level audio system and its meager 10 speakers that are offered outside North America. Standard audio in the home of the Stand Your Ground and the Big Mac is a 13-speaker, 590-watt Burmester system. The upgrade, Burmester again, is 24 speakers, 1540 watts, and $6,400. The two tweeters in the front door extend out 10mm (0.4 inches) when the system comes on. Burmester is a bespoke Berlin audio company that outfits only Porsche and now Mercedes.

For watching, four LCD screens are available. In front are two 12.3-inch, 1440×540 TFT displays. The left screen is the instrument panel. In addition to the usual gauges, it can also display current-music information, a simplified navigation screen, or a target-seeking night vision image (more below). It flows into the center stack screen with only a narrow strip with a couple buttons separating them. The center display can be had with SplitView, its term for the Sharp LCD technology that angles separate full-screen images at the driver and passenger, the only cost being halved resolution: 720×540 for each viewing side, where pixels 1, 3, 5, etcetera face the driver and 2, 4, 6, etcetera face the passenger. That lets the front seat passenger watch a movie that the driver cannot see. The only obstacle is a couple of dumb state legislatures whose laws say a front seat display can’t play video, as opposed to restricting a display to not being seen by the driver when the car moves. Dual rear seat displays measure 10.2 inches, 960×540.

Good not great 3G WiFi out in the hinterlands

In an early production car I drove with integrated cellular WiFi, we could maintain multiple internet connections but throughput was slow. Most likely it was where we tried: in Muskoka, Ontario, a lakes and resort district 125 miles north of Toronto with cell service although not a lot of it. But multiple WiFi connections in a car is not bleeding edge tech, so likely it will work most places. MB execs also hinted that the 3G telematics phone in the S-Class will yield to faster 4G in the future.

At the introduction, Mercedes-Benz did not announce pricing for Mbrace2 with streaming media. Pricing for Mbrace2 is currently tiered: $280 a year for the core safety tools plus, $240 for Mbrace Plus concierge service and traffic/weather, and $168 for Mercedes-Benz Apps that currently includes internet browsing, Google Local Search, Yelp, Facebook and News, but not streaming media, which could be a bandwidth hog if you stream a lot of music. Mbrace2 cars have an industry advantage: Updates are sent directly to the car. That would save Ford a lot of trouble every time they need to refresh Sync and MyFord Touch.

With apps embedded in the dash, Mercedes is stepping back from phone-based apps the car controls. The means you’d better like TuneIn because you can’t control Aha, Pandora, MOG or Spotify from the car except by manipulating your phone directly. Over time, Mercedes probably needs to offer the services its buyers already use. The choice of TuneIn was partly because Mercedes wanted to offer a single app that was available in the most countries.

This is a car for inhaling entire continents, not for looking for recharging stations every 200 miles.

DiabloD3

Now only if Saudi Arabia would give you lifetime free gas if you buy one of their cars.

Bill Howard

These big honking luxury sedans are about 3 times as efficient as their first iterations in the 1970s. (OK, so are compact cars.) When the S-Class diesel comes in the new model, I bet you’ll see real world mileage on the highway at 35 mpg plus.

sheila752

just as Ray implied I cant believe that any body can get paid $9334 in a few weeks on the computer. did you look at this link w­w­w.K­E­P­2.c­o­m

grand_puba

go away

DiabloD3

The truth will never go away.

grand_puba

The truth is that pure electric cars are still no match for regular or even hybrid cars when it comes to range and time of refuelling. The Tesla S is a very nice car but it’s no match for an S-Class.

DiabloD3

Why do people keep repeating that disproven myth?

grand_puba

Prove us otherwise with hard data and we might change our mind…

DiabloD3

The 85kwh battery on the Model S can do at least 250 miles (one guy got his over 400 miles and still had a smidgen of charge left). Tesla will have Supercharger stations open along every major route before the end of this year.

Charging at a Supercharger will be free forever, and the GPS system on a Tesla car will automatically route you to a Supercharger when on the road. A 30 minute charge gets you 200 miles of range (or approximately the time one stops when on a long road trip), and they can do whole battery swaps in 5 minutes.

By the end of 2013 there will be enough Superchargers to go from every major city to every other major city, and by the end of 2014 everywhere else including parts of Canada.

In addition, in an emergency, you can charge from a standard house socket (although it is slower).

You do not get free gas for the life of your car, nor can you refuel your car at home, nor can you refuel your car in absolute emergencies. I don’t know why anyone would buy anything but a Tesla given these features.

grand_puba

Nice reply. Sounds good IMO. I guess that in the next 10 – 15 years electric cars will eventually “out-range” petrol cars.

Gowtham_Natarajan

Tesla is a low end car compared to Benz S class.

Ramtha604

Since a car in 5 or 10 years time with a similar goal and price won’t be better and more technically advanced than this one right now, this article totally isn’t not more than just pure marketing, right? Right?!

Bill Howard

What’s on the S-Class today will be on both cheaper cars and more advanced cars. But you have to wait 5 or 10 years if you want to write a smaller check. This is trickle-down theory. The S-Class had anti-lock brakes circa 1980 (yes, many people claim to be first with ABS). Now almost every car has ABS and stability control and multiple airbags.

Ramtha604

So you agree that the headline is about as factually wrong as it gets, something that is generally accepted only in advertisements at best?

Bill Howard

So you agree that when one says “so you agree that ____” the person could be simplifying the discussion … or pretzeling the thought to serve his or her own ends? Look: In my imperfect but considered judgment, the S-Class is the best combination of technologies, ride comfort, performance and safety even rolled into one automobile. They still have some work to do on usability of the infotainment components, as who doesn’t. Sometime in the future somebody else will have a better car. That’s progress.

Ramtha604

>So you agree that when one says “so you agree that ____” the person could be simplifying the discussion … or pretzeling the thought to serve his or her own ends?

No, I don’t agree with this at all. It is a clear question that in my opinion should be answered with at least a clear ‘yes’ or ‘no’, and does neither simplify nor complicate a discussion by itself (as long as it isn’t purely rhetorical). You avoid adressing the substance of my postings when responding to them, and I cannot see any will to actual discussion in that, and I honestly wonder why you even bother replying in this way.

Magnus Blomberg

I agree. The headline is plain wrong. Unless I die before there is another s-class I don’t see why this would be the “best, most technologically advanced car” I will ever drive.

Hoagy

This is an over-engineered , over-equipped and over-priced monstrosity with a dash board looking like one from a tractor trailer. It is a rebadged Maybach with a few modern amenities like the led light technology.

KM

Enjoyed the article – quite a bit more detail on the electronic parts
of the car than many other articles I’ve read. Had some questions,
though.

1. I noticed statements from various people from
Daimler about potentially including a fully autonomous driving mode in
this model’s lifespan down the line. Have you heard anything additional
about this? Would previous model year cars be potentially upgradeable,
etc?
2. The rear cupholders can cool and warm – do the front cupholders do this as well?
3.
I saw options for the typical RCA inputs as well as USB in the box in
the rear seats. Is there an option for HDMI inputs to accommodate for
smartphones being
used as the media player?
4.
Are you sure the adaptive highbeam assist system is not coming to US
models? Some of the dealer guides I’ve seen indicate otherwise.

ncgh

I’m not sure why someone would want 700-800 mile range. Maybe the car can go that far but I can’t without coffee breaks and pit stops.

Back in the 60s when I was growing up, Cadillac and Lincoln were adorned with all the fluffy gadgets of the day, and Mercedes was relatively devoid of fluff, a solid, well engineered vehicle for people who weren’t distracted by trinkets. How times have changed.

Heimdall222

Well, yeah, this a nice car, I guess.

But a sedan that’s nearly the size of an Escalade and costs way north of 100 large really should give (all of) its passengers massages with happy endings!

RVM3

It will in Singapore (they will jump right in!)

William Liu

The author wrote “The pair of optical cameras mounted a half-foot apart in the windshield mirror housing provide 3D vision to augment Mercedes’ narrow-beam long range radar (out to 200 meters or 1,640 feet, equal to 18 seconds at 60 mph).” But 200m does not equal 1640ft (200m=656ft), I’m assuming 1640 feet is the correct number (since it takes far less time than 18 seconds to travel 200m when going at 60mph).

RBH

“(out to 200 meters or 1,640 feet, equal to 18 seconds at 60 mph)”

That should be 7.45 seconds at 60 mph

(or the distance is wrong – one of them is)

maverick909

Call me when they start flying. All the gadgetry and luxury in the world won’t ease my pain until I can completely avoid Los Angeles traffic. Lift off from work (helicopter style) fly for about 15 minutes and then touchdown in my driveway. YEA, that’s the ticket!

Brian Dakin

I would argue that Tesla model S is the most technological car in the World right now.
No petrol to buy EVER,,That’s right.. Are you guy’s kidding with your 100,000 Mercedes?

Gowtham_Natarajan

Tesla is a good car, but compared to S class, tesla is nothing.

Michael Mothner

Can I tell you how much I hate the title of this article? Word it “The best most technologically advanced car you *have ever driven*” and *yet* or even *in the world today* but ever? That’s just a logically incorrect comment.

Hoagy

This car is over-engineerd,over-equipped and over-priced and hardly justifies a fun weekend drive or the daily commute of the normal citizen. German cars look more and more like an asian clone in design and technology. The time is over when german cars ruled the road.

Tuatha Kaish

Poor Michael Hastings had this car. My advice? No whistleblowers should EVER get in this car.

Saleh

Dear God…….

Darse

VOLVO XC60 2014 (Y)

Darse

VOLVO XC60 2014 (Y)

RVM3

Looks like a gimmick-laden pile of crap. The only new thing proper about the car is the onboard full cellular modem, something I’ve wanted for years. By the way, I note how Bill waits to the end to note you will be paying steep monthly subscriptions for all of these services.

tlwest

I enjoyed the article. It’s not so much about “Should I get this car?”, after all, who reading Extreme Tech has $100K+ to drop on a car, but “What sort of neat tech will we see in the next decade in a car I might actually be able to afford?”

As such, I found the article nicely informative and entertaining.

Denis

Well some techies make really good money. And some techies have family members who have money and can recommend a car.

Denis

Well some techies make really good money. And some techies have family members who have money and can recommend a car.

Xellion

that you will ever….drive….

hmmm

Mo Friedrich

What an ignorant, “murican”-point of view article. “a couple of dumb state legislatures”? “the home of the Stand Your Ground and the Big Mac”? Are you even proud? Wow. Until now I loved the reflected, scientific articles on this site.

smstrb

Tech innovation is nothing new to Mercedes. They were the ones who introduced safety cage construction, anti-lock brakes, air bags and traction control (to name a few) which are standard on many of today’s new cars. So even if you don’t have the cash to enjoy an S Class today, you can probably look forward to seeing many of its latest features incorporated into less expensive brands sometime in the future.

Well I hope your child dies from a painfull cancer, because I dont know him/her.

Isolde Gruenbein

Headline should realistically be: “The best, most technologically advanced car you will never drive”

DrCargo

I was going to buy a tesla model S and that all changed today when I test drove the 2014 S550. The car simply cannot be compared to a tesla.
I ordered mine today it arrives in three months.
The car drives better than the tesla and is spectacular.

Martin Luther

Its not new to us that mercedes have launched its now model. Now here it comes with a new one. Yeah! its really too exciting to have a over look of this car. It has left back its old models with new facilities in it. It is one of the most luxury car in the world. It is running for more that 50 years and this model has left back all its new innovations before. Mercedes is sold in standard and long wheel based versions.

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